Indicating mechanism



Dec. 18,1962 R. MGGAVIN GARLAND ETAL 3,069,082

INDICATING MECHANISM Filed Dec. 12, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet l ayl. ---------fi 1 SET FOR 1 0 o GALLONS oy l l'22'/z33' 244'/25 OUTER DRUM glNNER DRUM 5&6 6 2 7 7/2 a 9 29. 9% lOlO' Dec- 18, 1 R. MCGAVIN GARLAND ETAL 3,069,082

INDICATING MECHANISM 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 12, 1961 .Dec. 18, 1962 R. MOGAVIN GARLAND ETAL 3,

INDICATING MECHANISM Filed Dec. 12, 1961 s Sheds-Sheet s United States Patent Ofiice 3,969,082 Patented Dec. 18, 1962 3,069,082 INDICATING MECHANISM Ronald McGavin Garland, Ham Common, Richmond, and Richard Thomas Henry Gant, New Addingtou, Surrey, England, assignors, by mesne assignments, to Veeder-Root Incorporated, Hartford, Conn, 21 corporation of Connecticut Filed Dec. 12, 1961, Ser. No. 158,819 Claims priority, application Great Britain Dec. 15, 1960 Claims. (Cl. 235-117) This invention relates to indicating mechanism and has for its object to provide a preset indicating mechanism, which is particularly, but not exclusively, applicable to liquid dispensing apparatus, and is especially useful in connection with petrol dispensing apparatus.

Such liquid dispensing apparatus normally includes a preset mechanism which, when moved to indicate a selected quantity to be dispensed, also in conjunction with known mechanism in the dispensing pump, operates to cut oil delivery of liquid by closing the delivery valve, and which may also stop the drive to the pump, when the predetermined quantity of liquid has been dispensed.

According to the present invention, preset indicating mechanism comprises an inner drum mounted on an operating spindle for rotation therewith, a concentrically disposed encircling outer drum mounted around said operating spindle and co-axial with a fixed third drum hearing a track, the inner and outer drums carrying around their outer peripheries indicia, the outer drum having an aperture, through which the indicia on the inner drum can be viewed, clutch means between the spindle and the outer drum, and stop means on the outer drum for engagement with an. abutment adjacent the track on the third drum, the arrangement being such that, on initial rotation of the operating spindle, the drums rotate together through the clutch means to bring the stop into engagement with the abutment so as to declutch the drive between the inner and outer drums, so that on further rotation of the spindle the outer drum remains locked against movement thus allowing only the inner drum to rotate thereby in succession bringing to view the indicia on the inner drum through the aperture in the outer drum.

The clutch means preferably comprises a notched cam member mounted for movement with the spindle and co-operating with one end of a two-ended pawl pivoted on the outer drum and engageable with the track on said third drum. Said track preferably includes a recess for receiving the other end of the pawl when said pawl is moved, after approximately one revolution of the operating spindle, by said cam.

In such an arrangement it will be appreciated that for nearly the whole of a revolution of the operating spindle the inner and outer drums are locked together and when the clutch means is disengaged the outer drum is locked against any movement until rotation of the operating spindle in the desired direction has ceased and is only unlocked on reverse rotating of the operating spindle.

Preferably said cam member is secured to a hub of said inner drum, and said inner drum carries a manually operated knob which projects from a casing in which the mechanism is housed.

Said outer drum preferably has a hub portion which is rotatably mounted on a sleeve forming a hub of said fixed third drum.

One form of preset indicating mechanism according to the invention, for use in conjunction with a petrol dispensing pump, is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan of the indicating mechanism;

FIGURE 2 is a corresponding longitudinal section;

FIGURE 3 isa transverse section on the line 33 of FIGURE 2, certain parts being omitted for the sake of clarity;

FIGURES 4 and 5 are fragmentary views substantially corresponding to FIGURE 3 but showing different positions of the mechanism;

FIGURE 6 is a detailed view to the rear of one of the drums; and

FIGURE 7 is a development of the inner and outer drums.

Referring to the drawings, the preset indicating mechanism of the invention comprises an outer drum 1 and a concentrically disposed inner drum 2 mounted around an operating spindle 3 on to one end of which the inner drum 2 is mounted by a central hub 2a. The inner drum 2 is formed integrally with a preset knob 4 which projects through an outer casing 5 in which the mechanism is housed. The inner drum 2 is also formed with a radially projecting flange 7 which seats on a washer 8 which is disposed against a shoulder formed on the outer casing.

The outer drum 1 encircles the inner drum 2, as shown, and has a hub portion 1a which is rotatably mounted on a bushing 11) which is disposed around a sleeve 14a forming a hub of a third drum 14 which is fixedly secured to a support, indicated generally at 23, and to which drum the casing 5 is secured by screws 6.

As is shown in FIGURES 6 and 7, each of the drums 1 and 2 carries indicia on its outer periphery, the outer drum which is shown particularly in FIGURE 6 having the numerals 0 to 5 in half-units thereon, and an aperture 9. The inner drum has the numerals 5% to 10 /2 in half-units thereon which can be viewed through the aperture 9 in the outer drum.

Referring particularly to FIGURES 2 to 5, a disc 10 is secured by pins or screws 10a to the hub 2a of inner drum 2, and the disc 10 is formed with a projecting cam 11 which is shaped to provide a notch 12 on one side and an abutment shoulder 13 on the other side, as shown.

The fixed third drum 14 is provided internally with a track 15 formed by the inner periphery of an annular plate 15a which is secured to the end of the drum by screws 15b, and also is formed with a radial abutment 16 within the wall of the drum.

A radial portion 17a of the outer drum 1 is formed with a semi-circular recess 17, and adjacent this recess a two-ended pawl, generally indicated at 18, is pivotally mounted by a pin 19 to the drum -1. The pawl 18 is formed with a notch 24 between the ends for a purpose to be hereinafter described. The outer drum 1 also carries a radial projection 20 forming a stop (see particularly FIGURE 6) which is adapted to engage with the abutment 16 in the fixed drum 14 after rotation of the preset knob 4 and hence the spindle 3 as hereinafter described.

The track 15 includes a recess 21 with which a nose 18a of the pawl 18 is engageable so as to lock the outer drum to the third drum and prevent movement of the outer drum, although the spindle 3 together with the inner drum 2 can be given further rotational movement. It is to be appreciated, therefore, that the cam 11 and the two-ended pawl 18 constitute clutch means by which the inner and outer drums may be locked together for rotational movement together.

The casing 5 includes a window 22 through which the numerals on either the outer drum 1 or the inner drum 2 can be viewed.

The operation of the mechanism of the invention will now be described, and for the sake of description it will be assumed that the mechanism is set to zero indication,

outer drum 1 is prevented.

as shown in FIGURE 1, so that the numeral on the outer drum 1 is visible through the window 22.

The position of the drums 1 and 2 and of the other internal mechanism, when the mechanism is set to zero indication, is as shown in FIGURES 2 and 3, and it will be seen that a. tail 18b of the pawl 18 is engaged in the notch 12 of cam 11 which is secured to the inner drum 2, whereby the inner and outer drums are clutched together for common and simultaneous movement.

It is now assumed that a customer desires delivery of a quantity of petrol, for example, eight gallons. To obtain this delivery, the preset knob 4 is manually rotated by the operator in an anti-clockise direction, i.e. in the direction of the arrow shown in FIGURES 2 and 3, and during the first revolution thereof, the tail 18b of pawl 18 is retained in engagement with the notch 12 of the cam 11, with a part of cam 11 engaged in the notch 24 in the pawl 18 so that both drums 1 and 2 rotate together, with the nose 18a of the pawl moving round in sliding engagement with the track 15 formed on the annular plate 15a. In this movement of both drums, only the numerals between 0 and 5 on the outer drum pass visibly by the window 22.

At the end of the first revolution of the preset knob 4, the stop -will abut against the abutment 16 within the third drum 14 so that further movement of the It is to be understood that this stop 20 is so positioned on the outer drum 1 that, on engagement of the stop with abutment 16, the outer drum is stopped with its aperture 9 opposite and in register with the window 22 in the casing.

On further rotation of the preset knob 4, after movement of the outer drum has been stopped, the tail 18b of pawl 18 is moved in a clockwise direction by the wall of the notch 12 on one side of the cam 11, so that the pawl is pivoted about its pin 19 in a clockwise direction and the nose 18a of the pawl enters the recess 21 in the track 15, as shown in FIGURE 4, whereby the inner and outer drums are declutched from one another by removal of the tail 18b of pawl 18 from the notch 12. This pivotal movement of pawl 18 leaves the inner drum 2 free to be rotated, upon still further rotation of the preset knob 4, during which further rotation the numerals on said inner drum are exposed to view through the aperture 9 and window 22 of the casing. Thus, when the numeral 8 on the inner drum becomes visible to the operator, the rotation of the presetknob 4 is stopped as the desired preset position of the mechanism has then been reached.

It is to be appreciated, of course, that still further rotation of the preset knob 4 is possible if a greater amount than eight gallons is required to be preset by the mechanism, the inner drum. 2, in such as case, being rotated by the knob 4 until the abutment 13 of the cam 11 engages the back of the pawl 18, as shown in FIG- URE 5, whereupon no further rotation of the inner drum 2 can be made as the pawl 18 has its nose 18a in the recess 21 of track 15 and is thus restrained from any further movement. At this extreme position of the inner drum 2, numeral 10 /2 is visible through window 22 and the registering aperture 9.

Through known mechanism, which forms no part of the present invention and, therefore, is not described, rotation of the preset knob 4 as described and of the inner and outer drums 2 and 1 respectively and consequential movement of the operating spindle 3 to the selected position, presets the amount of eight gallons which was required in the example which is being described, and which amount will now be delivered when the pump motor is switched on.

Assuming now that the eight gallons have been delivered, any other desired amount may be preset by the mechanism, either above or below eight gallons, by rotation of the preset knob 4 to the appropriate position, as by further rotation of the knob 4 in an anti-clockwise direction for an amount above eight gallons and up to 10 /2 gallons, or in a clockwise direction for an amount below eight gallons. On the other hand, the mechanism may be returned to zero indication.

Assuming that the mechanism is to be returned to zero indication, the preset knob 4 will be rotated in a clockwise direction, which is the reverse of the direction in which the knob was turned to preset the desired amount, and such reverse rotation will bring the wall of the notch 12 into engagement with the tail 18b of the pawl 18 so as to pivot the pawl about its pin 19, in an anti-clockwise direction as seen in the drawings, to remove the nose 18a of the pawl from the recess 21 in track 15. The rotation of the preset knob is then continued until the parts assume the initial position shown in FIGURES 2 and 3, in which position the numeral 0 is again visible through the window 22.

It will be appreciated that with indicating means constructed in accordance with the present invention particularly due to the provision of two concentric drums each of which bears indicia the size and spacing of the figures on the drums can be considerably larger than those of known indicating means utilised in apparatus such as that disclosed herein; for example the figure size and spacing is approximately twice as big as could be obtained with a single-indicating drum of the same diameter. It will likewise be observed that, due to the clutch means and the inner and outer drums, the outer drum, which is inscribed from 0, /2, 1 5, will be positively driven in both directions and positively locked when at rest by the inner drum, which is marked 5%, 6 10 /2.

The preset indicating mechanism described herein may suitably be employed with the cascade preset mechanism forming the subject of our co-pending application No. 35013/6'0.

We claim:

Llndicating mechanism comprising an outer casing having a viewing aperture therein, an operating spindle rotatably mounted in the casing, a first drum secured to the operating spindle for rotation therewith and having indicia thereon for registry with the casing aperture, a second drum rotatably mounted co-axially with the first drum and disposed between the first drum and the casing, said second drum having indicia thereon and an aperture for registry with the casing aperture, disengageable clutch means between the spindle and second drum, and means on the spindle and casing for engaging the clutch means during one revolution of the first drum and for disengaging the clutch means during a second revolution of the first drum.

2. indicating mechanism comprising an outer casing having a viewing aperture therein, an operating spindle rotatably journaled in the casing, a first drum secured to the operating spindle for rotation therewith and having indicia thereon for registry with the casing aperture, a second drum rotatably mounted co-axially with the first drum and disposed between the first drum and the casing, said second drum having indicia thereon and an aperture for registry with the casing aperture, a stop on the casing limiting rotational movement of the second drum to a predetermined rotated position with the aperture in the second drum in registry with the aperture in the casing, a pawl movably mounted on the second drum, a notched cam member connected to the spindle for rotation therewith and engageable with the pawl, and a notched track on the casing engageable with the pawl to maintain the pawl in engagement with the notched cam member except when the second drum is in said predetermined rotated position.

3. Indicating mechanism comprising an outer casing having a viewing aperture therein, an operating spindle rotatably mounted in the casing, a first drum secured to the operating spindle for rotation therewith and having indicia thereon for registry with the casing aperture, a sec- 0nd drum rotatably mounted co-axially with the first drum and disposed between the first drum and the casing, said second drum having indicia thereon and an aperture for registry with the casing aperture, a pawl mounted on the second drum for connection selectively with the casing and the spindle, and cam means on the casing engaged by the pawl for maintaining the pawl in connection with the spindle during one revolution of the spindle and interlocking the pawl with the casing during a second revolution of the spindle, said aperture in the second drum being in registry with the casing aperture while the pawl is interlocked with the casing.

4. Indicating mechanism comprising an outer casing having a viewing aperture therein, an operating spindle rotatably mounted in the casing, a first drum secured to the operating spindle for rotation therewith and having indicia thereon for registry with the casing aperture, a second drum rotatably mounted co-axially with the first drum and disposed between the first drum and the casing, said second drum having indicia thereon and an aperture for registry with the casing aperture, a pawl pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on the second drum, a shoulder on the spindle engageable with one end of the pawl, a cam track on the casing engageable with the other end of the pawl to prevent pivoting of the pawl and thus establishing a driving connection between the spindle and the second drum, a stop on the casing engageable with the pawl to limit turning movement of the second drum to a rota-ted position with the aperture in the second drug registering with the aperture in the casing, said cam track having a notch adjacent said stop for receiving said other end of the pawl to permit limited movement of the pawl disengaging the pawl from the shoulder on the spindle and interconnecting the second drum with the casing, and a projection on the spindle engageable with the said one end of the pawl upon reverse movement of the spindle for re-engaging said one end of the pawl with said shoulder.

5. Indicating mechanism as set forth in claim 1 wherein the outer casing is cylindrical in shape and has a hub journaling the operating spindle and wherein the second drum is rotatably mounted on said hub.

Smith Aug. 22, 1933 Alderman Sept. 27, 1938 

